[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book II)]
[September 29, 1998]
[Pages 1704-1705]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Statement on Senate Action on Higher Education Legislation
September 29, 1998
I am delighted that the Senate today passed the Higher Education
Amendments of 1998. This legislation marks an important step forward in
my effort to help more Americans enter the doors of college. In today's
global economy, what you earn depends on what you learn. This bill will
make it easier for millions of Americans to get the higher education
they need to succeed in the global economy. It also demonstrates how we
can make progress on education policy when we choose bipartisan
cooperation over division.
By adopting the new low interest rate for student loans we proposed
last winter, this bill
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will save American students and their families billions of dollars in
interest payments. But this bill does much more to help all Americans go
to college. It responds to the challenge I issued in the State of the
Union to create a High Hopes initiative, where colleges reach down to
middle school students in high-poverty areas to give them the support
they need to be ready for higher education; incorporates our ideas on
recruiting and training top-notch teachers for our public schools;
builds on our efforts to deploy cutting-edge technology so that our
students can learn anytime, anywhere; and modernizes the delivery of
student aid by creating the Government's first-ever performance based
organization, a recommendation made by the Vice President's National
Performance Review.
I look forward to signing this bill into law, and I urge Congress to
provide the accompanying funding for these new critical initiatives so
that they can work effectively to give America's students the quality
education they deserve.